WHAT TO WORK ON

What you work on (effectiveness) is way more important than how well you do it (efficiency).

Prioritising is absolutely critical. It is probably the single biggest factor after. This takes discipline, courage and energy. If you lack those, work on your mental and physical state. Go for a run. Phone a friend (Briefly!). Have a quick coffee. Whatever works for you. Then crack straight into it.

How to identify what to work on:

What worries you most?

What are you avoiding that you know you need to do?

Which area of the business feels most neglected? If you’re just starting out, it’s going to be product selection. If you’re next down the line, it will be finding suppliers etc.

What keeps you awake at night?

What great opportunity are you neglecting?

e.g. a new product line;

a new sales channel (eg eBay);

building an email list;

new marketing channels (eg Facebook)

WHAT TO WORK ON FIRST

COVEY GRID: Urgent vs. Important projects and tasks

Urgent things are driven from outside you. I use an exclamation mark! to mark these

external to your business e.g. HMRC (tax man in UK!); suppliers; Amazon

internal to your business e.g. a VA or business partner

They can fill your days but it’s reactive not proactive so it’s not a way to grow a business well. If you’re short of energy and time you may have to just deal with these however for now.

Important tasks - are driven by long term impact. I use an asterisk * to mark.

it can be avoiding large negative impact e.g. getting corporate tax return in on time to avoid fines and legal issues

it can also be gaining long term opportunities e.g. more revenue from another sales channel (eg Shopify site or eBay)

Tasks can be both urgent and important.

Work on Cat. I tasks as a top priority

The Covey 2X2 grid: classify your thoughts/projects/ worries:

Cat. I urgent and important matters- things that have big impact and have to be done, e.g. getting corporate tax return in on time to avoid fine and legal issues.

Cat II: Important but not urgent. Things that have a big impact but not driven from outside. Eg. for me, creating and gearing up email marketing, setting up a Shopify website; Exploring Vietnam as a place to source from

Cat III - urgent but not so important, e.g., responding to an email from a potential supplier who needs to know from you before Chinese New Year closes factory for the month.

The Covey Grid: prioritise

Do Cat. I urgent and important first. Once done, try to avoid this being a crisis next time.

example:tax return: put the date for annual corporate tax return in your iPhone calendar with a date 4 weeks before to get in touch with your accountant.

Make time each day to deal with III urgent crises. Again, try to find a way to make this systematic so it doesn’t end up driven by urgency so much.

CRUCIAL: Carve out a sacred time to work on Important but not urgent tasks.

3 hours a day is ideal if full time; 1 hour is good if part time; even 20 minutes is effective if you’re cramming it in very part-time.

After you have dispatched the most urgent tasks or projects, go straight to your most effective ones.

The Lee/Schwabb nuclear method:

If you’re really overwhelmed, this is the most effective single method I’ve ever met:

list your biggest worries/urgencies etc.

[star the important and add !